Fritz Van Den Heuvel

Joris Vermassen

(b. 1964, Belgium)

Fritz Van den Heuvel, whose real name is Joris Vermassen, was born in Aalst, Belgium in 1964. He studied Graphic Design at the Sint-Luc Institute in Brussels, where he graduated in 1986. He made his debut in comics in 1988, with the publication of 'De Verdwenen Stembanden'. He started using the pseudonym Fritz Van den Heuvel after the Belgian artist and comics pioneer Frits van den Berghe (1887-1939).

He also works as a comedian and is an assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, writes for radio and television, and continues to create comics, such as 'Fritz', 'Job', 'Laugh Story' and 'Bakkes & Stoot'. His cartoons are published Humo and De Standaard Avond. Together with artist Simon Spruyt, he began the award-winning royal parody 'De Bamburgers', that is published by Dutch publisher Silvester.

Vermssen was one of many Belgian cartoonists to make special cartoons and comics for Gilles Dal’s book "België, et cetera" (Van Halewyck, 2016), a funny look at the history of Belgium. He is a member of the collective and website The Cartoonist, established by Marec, where Belgian cartoonists make their archived and new work available to the public.